Posted 3 years ago on April 4, 2013, 5:37 p.m. EST by bensdad
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NRA Fact Check: 10 Gun Myths Shot Down
Fact-checking some of the gun lobby’s favorite arguments shows they’re full of holes & full of sh1t.

By cutting off federal funding for research and stymieing data collection and sharing, the National Rifle Association has tried to do to the study of gun violence what climate deniers have done to the science of global warming. No wonder: When it comes to hard numbers, some of the gun lobby’s favorite arguments are full of holes.

Myth #1: They’re coming for your guns.
Fact-check: No one knows the exact number of guns in America, but it’s clear there’s no practical way to round them all up (never mind that no one in Washington is proposing this). Yet if you fantasize about rifle-toting citizens facing down the government, you’ll rest easy knowing that America’s roughly 80 million gun owners already have the feds and cops outgunned by a factor of around 79 to 1.
Sources: Congressional Research Service (PDF), Small Arms Survey

Myth #2: Guns don’t kill people—people kill people.
Fact-check: People with more guns tend to kill more people—with guns.
The states with the highest gun ownership rates have a gun murder rate 114% higher than those with the lowest gun ownership rates. Also, gun death rates tend to be higher in states with higher rates of gun ownership. Gun death rates are generally lower in states with restrictions such as assault-weapons bans or safe-storage requirements.
Sources: Pediatrics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Myth #3: An armed society is a polite society.
Fact-check: Drivers who carry guns are 44% more likely than unarmed drivers to make obscene gestures at other motorists, and 77% more likely to follow them aggressively.
Among Texans convicted of serious crimes, those with concealed-handgun licenses were sentenced for threatening someone with a firearm 4.8 times more than those without.
In states with Stand Your Ground and other laws making it easier to shoot in self-defense, those policies have been linked to a 7 to 10% increase in homicides.

Myth #4: More good guys with guns can stop rampaging bad guys.
Fact-check: Mass shootings stopped by armed civilians in the past 30 years: 0
Chances that a shooting at an ER involves guns taken from guards: 1 in 5

Myth #5: Keeping a gun at home makes you safer.
Fact-check: Owning a gun has been linked to higher risks of homicide, suicide, and accidental death by gun.
For every time a gun is used in self-defense in the home, there are7 assaults or murders,
11 suicide attempts,
4 accidents
involving guns in or around a home.
43% of homes with guns and kids have at least one unlocked firearm.
In one experiment, one third of 8-to-12-year-old boyswho found a handgun pulled the trigger.

Myth #6: Carrying a gun for self-defense makes you safer.
Fact-check: In 2011, nearly 10 times more people were shot and killed in arguments than by civilians trying to stop a crime.
In one survey, nearly 1% of Americans reported using guns to defend themselves or their property. However, a closer look at their claims found that more than 50% involved using guns in an aggressive manner, such as escalating an argument.
A Philadelphia study found that the odds of an assault victim being shot were 4.5 times greater if he carried a gun. His odds of being killed were 4.2 times greater.

Myth #7: Guns make women safer.
Fact-check: In 2010, nearly 6 times more women were shot by husbands, boyfriends, and ex-partners than murdered by male strangers.
A woman’s chances of being killed by her abuser increase more than 7 times if he has access to a gun.
One study found that women in states with higher gun ownership rates were 4.9 times more likely to be murdered by a gun than women in states with lower gun ownership rates.

Myth #9: More and more Americans are becoming gun owners.
Fact-check: More guns are being sold, but they’re owned by a shrinking portion of the population.
About 50% of Americans said they had a gun in their homes in 1973. Today, about 45% say they do. Overall, 35% of Americans personally own a gun.
Around 80% of gun owners are men. On average they own 7.9 guns each.

Myth #10: We don’t need more gun laws—we just need to enforce the ones we have.
Fact-check: Weak laws and loopholes backed by the gun lobby make it easier to get guns illegally.
Around 40% of all legal gun sales involve private sellers and don’t require background checks. 40% of prison inmates who used guns in their crimes got them this way.
An investigation found 62% of online gun sellers were willing to sell to buyers who said they couldn’t pass a background check.
20% of licensed California gun dealers agreed to sell handguns to researchers posing as illegal “straw” buyers.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives has not had a permanent directorfor 6 years, due to an NRA-backed requirement that the Senate approve nominees.

Dave Gilson is a senior editor at Mother Jones. Read more of his stories, follow him on Twitter, or contact him at dgilson (at) motherjones (dot) com. RSS | TWITTER

I did some reading about the murders. First I read that the guy in TX did fear for his life and carried a gun everywhere. Now that story is being disputed, so who knows. Whether you have a gun or not, you can't keep your guard up 4/7. If someone can get to the President, someone can get to you.

Dunno, but that CO ADA did yesterday, She and her husband both blew some scumbag away that broke into her house. Strangely, the only thing Diane Sawyer talked about yesterday was the WV LEO who got killed. The press is REALLY in Obama's pocket. Heaven forbid the statistics should come out that over 10 x's more people save their lives every yr with a gun that lose them

Myth #5: Keeping a gun at home makes you safer.
Fact-check: Owning a gun has been linked to higher risks of homicide, suicide, and accidental death by gun.
For every time a gun is used in self-defense in the home, there are
7 assaults or murders,
11 suicide attempts,
4 accidents
involving guns in or around a home.
43% of homes with guns and kids have at least one unlocked firearm.
In one experiment, one third of 8-to-12-year-old boyswho found a handgun pulled the trigger.

Myth #6: Carrying a gun for self-defense makes you safer. Fact-check: In 2011, nearly 10 times more people were shot and killed in arguments than by civilians trying to stop a crime.
In one survey, nearly 1% of Americans reported using guns to defend themselves or their property. However, a closer look at their claims found that more than 50% involved using guns in an aggressive manner, such as escalating an argument.
A Philadelphia study found that the odds of an assault victim being shot were 4.5 times greater if he carried a gun. His odds of being killed were 4.2 times greater.

The problem is not that the guns were not "properly locked up"
The problem is that they were not "legally locked up"
mommy & 26 others paid the price for the nra's stance

You are most certainly allowed your opinions. But in actual point of fact - legally owned weapons used for illegal purposes ( such as random murder ) - were not properly secured ( locked-up ) by the owner ( legal owner ).

Myth #11- that this a huge distraction that wont fix the underlying problems....oh wait.

Myth #12- that this just provided the perfect cover to fuck our entire food supply for the rest of our being.....oh wait., that really just happened.

Myth #13- that relying on people who sell guns to poor countries, create chaos to then come in and take control may do the same thing here, since they have been doing it all over the globe for around, um, forever?....oh wait, shit, that ones true too.

14- that the government that bans drugs, while shipping them all over the globe, can monitor things effectively....yes. Total myth.

15- that some people are so tied to a certain result and a certain way of thinking that they cannot possibly dig deeper into why something may be happening. Nope, thats not a myth. For reference, see #'s 1-10.

15- That seems how the government just decided to shut down our protest and throw hundred of peaceful protesters in jail, its a good idea to give them more power than they already have.

Only someone who is completely out of touch with occupy would want the state to further spy and monitor them, after watching what they did to THIS MOVEMENT.....THIS PROTEST.....THESE PEOPLE.

When Australia had a massacre in 1996 when 35 people were killed, gun laws were substantially strengthened and a major buy-back was instituted.
There has not been an incident in Australia since then.
Of course, they did not have the benefit of the nra.

In 2011, there were 11,000+ gun homicides in America
In 2011, there were 35 gun deaths in England

For 2011, the average Murder Rate in Death Penalty States was 4.7,
while the average Murder Rate of States without the Death Penalty was 3.1

For 2011, the murder rates were highest in red state regions:
Per 100,000: South 5.5 Midwest 4.5 West 4.2 Northeast 3.9

The US is not Australia, Briton or Canada. For better or worse America has a strong gun culture. If laws similar to Australia were passed in the US it would be largely ignored by gun owners. Eventually turning millions of otherwise law abiding people into criminals. I think you underestimate the resolve of American gun owners to keep their guns.

This is our point of disagreement. I believe the things you are pushing is intended to punish legal law abiding gun owners and regulate guns out of existence. Nothing in you long list of proposed gun laws will reduce gun crime or gun violence. Go after the criminals, gangs and illegal gun owners. That’s how to reduce gun crime.

• 86 percent feel the currently proposed legislation would have no effect or a negative effect on improving officer safety.

• Similarly, 92 percent feel that banning semi-automatic firearms, or “assault weapons,” would have no effect or a negative effect on reducing violent crime

• Demonstrating the opinion that the best way to combat gun crime is through harsher punishment, 91 percent said the use of a firearm while perpetrating a crime should lead to a stiff, mandatory sentence with no plea bargains. Likewise, 59 percent believe increasing punishment severity for unlicensed dealers would reduce crime

• Respondents were more split on background checks, with 31 percent agreeing that mental health background checks in all gun sales would help reduce mass shootings, while 45 percent disagreed

• 71 percent support law enforcement leaders who have publicly refused to enforce more restrictive gun laws within their jurisdictions